Doctor among 3 held for sex determination

A network including a doctor, a nurse and her husband involved in sex determination in Punjab was busted by the state Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Technique (PCPNDT) cell from Sachdeva hospital at Muktsar on Friday.

National Health Mission chief Naveen Jain said, “The sonography machine at the registered sonography centre at Muktsar has been seized and the culprits are being inquired and will be produced in the PCPNDT court on Saturday at Hanumangarh.”

He said there were continuous complaints about sex determination from the bordering states of Punjab and Haryana.

The PCPNDT laid a trap on receiving information that sex determination was being done at Muktsar district in Punjab. Woman broker Sukhwant Kaur, who is also said to work as a nurse and midwife and her husband Rajendra Singh Jatsikh at Mohalla village in Malot tehsil of Muktsar district were contacted.

The broker demanded ₹50,000 for sex determination and an additional ₹10,000 in case of abortion. The deal was finalised after which Kaur and her husband came to Hanumangarh in their Bolero and took the decoy (pregnant) woman and her husband to their Mohalla village.

They were first taken to Dabwali and later to Malot for sex determination and finally to Sachdeva Hospital on Friday evening where they were being followed by the PCPNDT team. The sex of the foetus was detected by Dr Jagdish Sachdeva at the hospital where the police arrested them.

Jain said, “These brokers have made a sex determination package under which they demand ₹50,000 and an additional ₹10,000 for abortion.This package includes taking the pregnant woman from her village and dropping her back.”